Exercise Your Intelligence
It's a win-win! These activities aren't just fun, they're also some of the best ways to grow gray matter, according to top brain doctors. (For example, dancing uses a bunch of brain systems, including planning, coordination, and judgment, while meditation has been shown to affect parts of the brain associated with learning and memory.)

1. Learn a musical instrument
2. Study a foreign language
3. Meditate or do yoga
4. Play chess (or another challenging board game)
5. Take a dance class
6. Learn a complex skill, such as painting
7. Take college-level or advanced courses
8. Learn to juggle

Strength Train Your BrainWorking out enhances production of the proteins that stimulate brain-cell growth and can help your neurons work optimally, says John J. Ratey, M.D., author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. Try these:

Strength train for an hour three times a week. Keep at it, and it can help improve memory performance as you age, says a study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Do high-intensity intervals or resistance training, which can spike levels of brain-healthy hormones, says Ratey. Do two 30-minute sessions a week.